Speaking out for the first time since a massacre left 27 dead, Newtown, Conn. Police Chief Michael Kehoe says it's time for a big change.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Kehoe urges lawmakers to ban assault weapons and recounts what it was like to walk into Sandy Hook Elementary School immediately after the shooting.

Armed with a Bushmaster .223 semiautomatic rifle and other weapons, Adam Lanza killed 26 people at the school and his mother before fatally shooting himself.

“We never like to think we’re going to be outgunned in any situation we’re dealing with,’ Kehoe told NBC News. “We do a good job of securing dynamite in our society. … (Assault rifles) are another form of dynamite. … I think they should ban them.”

Kehoe's plea comes as Vice President Joe Biden prepares to give President Barack Obama a list of recommendations on what should be done to fight gun violence in the country.

Biden met with interested groups last week but failed to make any headway with the National Rifle Association, a group that often opposes sweeping gun-law reform. The organization has blasted the White House for having an "agenda to attack the Second Amendment."